Camera Obscura return with their fifth studio album ‘Desire Lines’, released on 4AD.

‘Desire Lines’ started life in 2010 as demos put together in singer Tracyanne Campbell’s flat, before the band decamped from their native Glasgow to Portland, Oregon to work with Grammy nominated producer Tucker Martine (R.E.M., Spoon, My Morning Jacket).

The songs on ‘Desire Lines’ are bright, bold and full of space and joy. ‘Troublemaker’ tells us it was going to be one hell of a year, ‘New Year’s Resolution’ talks about admitting things and kissing like you mean it whilst ‘Cri Du Coeur’ takes us on a journey, daydreaming about the past.

Talking about Desire Lines, Tracyanne says, “Of all our records this was pretty much the most challenging to write, partly because of the situation we found ourselves in with having to take such a long and uncertain amount of time out, but also because it would be record number five and we were getting harder and harder to please.”

Although they might find themselves hard to please, they certainly seem to be pleasing their audience. The Guardian award ‘Desire Lines’ 4/5 and praise “the elegance and assurance of the music”, whilst Drowned in Sound rate it 9/10, calling the album, “another perfect gem in their catalogue. This is pop music with a real soul to it, and Camera Obscura have bared it magnificently.”